regarding Russia's phone bill

[P A U L 14]

so, i've been calling my fiancee in Russia. it's a landline at her parents' home... they are not going to have to pay an incoming call charge are they?

oh, and while i have your attention, does it cost money for my fiancee to get me a izveschenie? is it something she needs to write herself and have it notarized, or a form she fills out and have an official document given by...OVIR?

Edited November 17, 2012 by P A U L

[StarGirl 13]

I believe all the incoming calls are free in Russia.

Sorry,don't know about second part of your question.

[eekee 182]

What kind of notification? Do you mean invitation?

[vinnylc 2]

I don't know about landlines but cell phones are not free incoming from tele 2 services .... It's better to for her a smart phone and get the VOXER app it's free and as long as ou have Internet you can text walkie talkie her and send pics for free with Internet service ..... I did I with my fiancé and saved a fortune in bills .....or just get the vk.com app and text through kontact (Russian Facebook) if you have a profile .... It's free

Edited November 17, 2012 by vinnylc

[P A U L 14]

What kind of notification? Do you mean invitation?

yes, i mean the invitation for a private homestay visa.

I don't know about landlines but cell phones are not free incoming from tele 2 services .... It's better to for her a smart phone and get the VOXER app it's free and as long as ou have Internet you can text walkie talkie her and send pics for free with Internet service ..... I did I with my fiancé and saved a fortune in bills .....or just get the vk.com app and text through kontact (Russian Facebook) if you have a profile .... It's free

skype would do the same thing right? or is voxer recommended

[eekee 182]

For a private homestay visa invitation she will have to go through OVIR, yes.

Приглашение=invitation

Извещение=notice

[Dustin C 12]

skype would do the same thing right? or is voxer recommended

I used Skype, and it seemed to work well for my experience, if your fiance has easy access to internet.

[Lena and Igor 5]

Ditto for Skype! Lena also recharged her phone card monthly for texting. Worked well from and to Ukraine.

[P A U L 14]

For a private homestay visa invitation she will have to go through OVIR, yes.

Приглашение=invitation

Извещение=notice

does she need to hand write the paper herself, and then have it notarized? or are there forms at OVIR or some other process to receive an official invitation and/or notice?

I used Skype, and it seemed to work well for my experience, if your fiance has easy access to internet.

she does not have easy access to the internet yet. she has been living in korea for the past 5 years, and returned home to russia so that i can begin this petition. so far i have just been calling her with Google voice. .08c a minute to her "MTC"(??) phone. i just hope she doesn't receive any incoming charges, because we were on the phone a looong time.

Ditto for Skype! Lena also recharged her phone card monthly for texting. Worked well from and to Ukraine.

i want to use skype more so that i can have some kind of picture "proof" for the interview. and it's a lot more fun and intimate if we can see each other while we talk. we won't be seeing each other in person until then, but i will be flying to Moscow the day before her interview and we will go together.

[eekee 182]

does she need to hand write the paper herself, and then have it notarized? or are there forms at OVIR or some other process to receive an official invitation and/or notice?

I am certain that there are approximately 80 zillion forms she will have to fill out at OVIR. It is Russia and OVIR is notoriously paper-heavy, even for Russia. She can just go there and do it, or look up how to do it and then do that. Or you can just pay to get a tourist visa. Frankly, the whole private visa thing is such a pain in the #### there's no reason to do it unless you're planning to, say, have a long term stay and turn that visa into residency. If you're just going for a couple of weeks, skip it and get a regular tourist visa. There are many many threads here about this.

[P A U L 14]

i'm not going to get in trouble for having a tourist visa, and NOT touring, am i?

[eekee 182]

i'm not going to get in trouble for having a tourist visa, and NOT touring, am i?

No.

[P A U L 14]

No.

that makes things much more simple!

[Amy_and_Victor 159]

Victor just told me that in the Russian Federation all incoming phone calls are free by law, even on cell phones. He used Tele2 for his mobile service, and never got charged for incoming calls. I'd go with Skype to call her since it's super cheap and will save you money. That's what we did! We mostly used video chats, since they're free AND you get to see each other, which is awesome. Edited to add: I saw you said she doesn't have easy internet access yet. Depending on where you are in Russia, the internet is super cheap compared to what most people pay here. Hopefully she can get hooked up soon. Telecommunications usually aren't an issue in most urban and suburban areas.

-Amy

Edited November 23, 2012 by Amy_and_Victor

[P A U L 14]

i didn't go with skype because i couldn't use the free function to dial my fiancee's cellphone. it made me buy a skype number, which was expensive and subscription based.

so i stuck with google voice. free number, can call russia, and only .08c a minute to her cell or .04 to her home landline.

she doesn't have internet at home yet for us to video chat she said she will next week

Edited November 23, 2012 by P A U L